Before He Was Iron Man
by Evelyn Rose Marks
Summary: This is a short story that takes place before Sins of the Father. April is living in the UK trying to proceed with a normal teenage life...but things become complicated for her when Rhodey shows up at her school to inform her that her dad may have been killed in the Middle East. People seem to forget that before he was Iron Man...he was her dad.


_**I found this while I was weeding through my google drive...so I finished it tonight and figured I would share it with you. I have a partial one of Tony's thoughts while he is kidnapped, so this is gonna be a short two chapter one. Here's April's thoughts first (I got done with her's sooner) and expect Tony's soon :). I am also working on The Avengers version of my fanfic...it's just getting to be a bit of a challenge finding that HOOK in the first chapter! Anyway, please Read and Review 3!**_

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**April**

Class was dragging…I could no wait to get home and just curl up on my bed for the evening. It was raining, not that was a big change for London weather, but for some reason I found myself even more exhausted than I already was. I was ready for this day of endless midterms to be over and for me to have some time to relax rather than study. There were only two more hours of this school day and then we would have a wonderful, extended break, as a sort of reward for our hardships when it came to testing.

I walked into my pre-law class and smiled at my instructor…he didn't return it though. As a matter of fact, the look he was giving me almost led me to believe that he was distressed. I couldn't imagine why. Instructor Crowley was always in such a good mood…as a matter of fact his mid-term was one of the few I was looking forward to. He always had snacks on hand. He stopped me gently, with a hand on my shoulder and pulled me to the side.

"April…I…" he paused. "You need to go to the headmaster's office."

I watched him concerned. I never got in trouble…so why was he looking at me with such concern. I wanted to ask what had happened, but before I could he was already ushering me out into the hallway. The door closed and I began the slow, agonizing, walk to the Headmaster's office. The Headmaster and I got on fine, typically. He knew my dad…not well though…he only knew that my father was rich and whatever the fuck Forbes told them. It was tough, being Tony Stark's daughter. Especially when your rich, jackass, father never made an appearance to any teacher meetings.

I knocked before entering and found myself slightly surprised to see more than the head of our school there. Our student counselor was there…and a face I hadn't seen for the longest time…Colonel Rhodes. So…this involved my father. I should have known.

"Hello April…" he said gently. "God…you are so grown up. I wish I was visiting on happier terms."

"Psh…like you or dad visit at all…" I said sarcastically, dropping my satchel on the floor. "What's this about?"

Rhodey turned to my headmaster for a moment and then back at me. The room was filled with a thick silence that I could just barely stand to sit through. Finally Rhodey spoke…

"There's been an accident…involving your father…"

I didn't react properly…I could tell that now. I kind of just stared at them, with no emotional grasp of what was happening. In my mind, when they said accident…I assumed that just meant that he had freaking broken his leg driving one of his stupid cars…but no…it was more serious than that.

"Can I have some time alone with her, please?"

The movement of bodies didn't register with me…as I watched my teachers and administrator's leave the room. All wearing the same apologetic face I had grown to hate over the years. I saw this expression at every event that involved parents. It was sickening. I was far over waiting for my dad to come and get me…I wish they would get over it to.

"April…your father and I had gone to the Middle East to do a weapons demonstration for the military…while we were in a convoy on the way back to base…we were attacked…and…your father was kidnapped…"

I stared at him. This was some kind of joke. Some kind of fucking ploy that dad was trying to pull to make me care about him again…to see me call his name. That's what this was. Dad wasn't kidnapped. He was sitting at home, on the sofa, drinking imported scotch.

"Very funny, Rhodey." I snorted. "Where is he really?"

"April…" he said softly. "Please-

-No!" I snapped. "Don't…PULL that shit with me! Because it isn't fucking funny and it WON'T make me care about him! Now leave!"

"April…" he took out his cellphone. "Just…watch…"

I rolled my eyes but decided to humor him and watch the video that Rhodey chose to play for me. It was…of my dad…and he was bloody and tied up…with terrorists. My stomach turned…and I felt very dizzy…I was going to throw up. I felt a hand go up to my mouth and I swallowed hard.

"I'm going to be sick…" I said urgently.

Rhodes grabbed the closest waste bin he could and held my hair back as I retched, pointlessly, into it. It hurt so much…and I couldn't tell if it was because I had nothing to throw up…or if it was because my heart was actually breaking. Probably a combination of both.

"I'm so sorry honey…" he whispered, rubbing my back. "We are still searching for him…I promise we won't give up…I promise."

The bile burned my throat when it finally came up and I felt tears stream down my cheeks. I didn't even know what I was really crying for. Whether it was because I was ACTUALLY worried about Tony Stark…or if it was because throwing up just actually hurt _that_ much.

We sat there for a couple of minutes, Rhodey holding me close to his chest. I didn't make a sound as we sat there and I wiped what tears had fallen down my cheeks. I didn't want to go back home now…there would be nothing that my relatives could do to console me. As a matter of fact, I was sure that they would just make it worse. They would probably care more about what I would do with my inheritance over whether or not Tony was actually safe.

"April…" he said gently. "I would like for you to come home with me…Pepper and Happy think you should be in Malibu with them."

"I…I can't…" I whimpered, shaking my head. "I…I can't have him send me away again. I just can't, Rhodey."

My legs shook violently as I pulled myself up from his lap and I moved to sit on one of my desks. Everyone was going to know…everyone…and I would have to deal with the entire world bestowing their pity onto me. As if I didn't have to deal with that enough already. All of my classmates wondered why I wasn't living in the states with my father…and all of them came to the same conclusion that I had come to. It was that my dad just didn't want me in his life.

"I know that you hate your father for what he did, red," he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "And no one blames you for that…but he did it because he wanted you to have a better life."

I rolled my eyes and pulled my knees up against my chest.

"I'm not allowed to leave without you…Pepper's orders…so I guess I'll be moving into that little…flat…with you until you decide to come home."

I could see him smirking slightly…and I knew that he was just trying to lighten the mood and make me feel better. It was just a hard situation. I knew that in my heart, I really wanted to go home and get to see Pepper and Happy. Pepper was the closest thing in the world I ever had to having a mom and Happy…he was my uncle by all intents and purposes. But what would I do if Tony did come back and he wanted to send me back to the UK? Maybe I could convince him otherwise, I was almost sixteen…practically an adult really.

"I…guess…I'll go with you, for Pepper and Happy." I whispered softly. "But only until you find him…he probably won't want me there for any longer anyway."

Rhodey offered his arm to me and I gently took it. He would be okay…he was Tony Stark after all…and as my dad told me so many times when I was little "Daddy can survive anything, princess". Out of all the promises you broke dad…please let this be the one you keep.

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_**Please Read and Review! (no flames)**_


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